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Prince Andrew is surrendering his designations, such as the Duke of York, he has announced in a individual message.

He has been under mounting attention over his associations with convicted criminal Epstein, with requests for the royal household to take action against him.

That now seems to have led to the royal deciding to willingly give up his designations and to give up participation of the Order of the Garter.

In his message he said he continued to "strongly refute the accusations against me".

"In consultation with the King, and my immediate and wider family, we have concluded the continued accusations about me take away from the work of the monarch and the monarchy," said a statement from Prince Andrew.

"I have decided, as I always have, to put my obligation to my kin and land first.

"I stand by my choice five years ago to stand back from royal engagements.

"With the King's approval, we feel I must now go a further step. I will therefore no longer hold my title or the distinctions which have been granted to me. As I have said earlier, I strongly refute the accusations against me."

He has been involved in a series of scandals, among them a court case he resolved with the plaintiff, doubts about his money matters and his connection with an alleged Chinese spy.

He will stay a prince - but will cease to be the Duke of York, a designation granted from his the late Queen, the Queen Elizabeth II.

He had already ended to be a "active member" and had given up the use of his His Royal Highness designation and no longer participated at state occasions. His role now will be even more lessened.

His ex-wife will be known as Ferguson and no longer the Duchess, but their children will persist to have the honor of royal princess.

The royal has faced intense scrutiny over his associations with notorious figure the financier, more in recent times including doubts about when he had truly cut off communication.

In his BBC Newsnight interview, he had said that he had severed all ties with the financier after they had been photographed together in NYC in the end of 2010.

But emails sent in the following year later came to light suggesting that he had confidentially remained in touch with Epstein, for example sending a communication: "Stay in contact and we'll meet again soon!"

There had been mounting frustration in the royal household at the controversies that persisted to surround the figure.

In the coming days a posthumous memoir by Virginia Giuffre will be released which is expected to bring additional attention on the royal's association with the plaintiff and the financier.